


Forever Young

by WhatMoreIsThereToSay



Category: Big Bang (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, More like AU- college student's wet dream, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-24
Updated: 2016-09-24
Packaged: 2018-08-16 23:09:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8121250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhatMoreIsThereToSay/pseuds/WhatMoreIsThereToSay
Summary: “We’re too very lucky, sought after rich men, aren’t we?” He said, planting a kiss on Jiyong’s cheek. 
“Yeah, we are. I’m not sure that’s very fair.” 
Seunghyun smiled, carefully clinking their wine glasses together. “Maybe, but I wouldn’t have it any other way, darling.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is what happens when I have to pay tuition: a little bit of GTOP, just for you! Yes, you. Enjoy~

They’d been brought together by scholarships, mostly. Five guys living in an old guesthouse in the middle of the city that had been renovated for the winners of a spectacular multi-disciplinary award, covering tuition and room and board for the extent of their education as long as they continued to enroll. Like most students who received the award, they chose to continue their education to the highest level offered at their university. An art major, a pre-medicine student, a pre-culinary student, a music major, and a fashion design major all being funded by a foundation dedicated to facilitating higher education in all fields. All fields, however they foundation put such an emphasis on creative fields that the others were a bit surprised when Kang Daesung announced himself a pre-med student.

“It’s because I want to work with kids, I think. I’m not very artsy, but I interviewed well and the head of the foundation said they hadn’t had a STEM fellow in a long time.” He explained on the day they moved in together. They had met before, but only briefly.

“With as much work as the application process was, I can’t believe you even tried to get in. Hard work paid off.” Seungri said, sprawled out on one of the living room couches.

“Seriously, seven letters of recommendation? I wonder how many people applied and didn’t get in.” Jiyong wondered from the kitchen counter.

The place had an open floor plan, even though it was squashed in the middle of office buildings, supermarkets, and larger apartment buildings. They each had their own room above, three on the second floor and two on the third. It was nicer than any of them had expected, large rooms with large closets and each floor having its own full bathroom. They were supposed to be splitting up chores at the moment, a task which they had foregone in favor of getting to know each other better.

“I’ve interned in a lot of restaurants so that part was pretty easy for me. They go through people applying for culinary schools like you wouldn’t believe, especially in the Seoul chain restaurants. I watched one of my bosses just fill in my name on a pre-written one.” Youngbae said, laughing.

“I had to squeeze them out of all my art instructors and the curators at the museum I worked at. And my art instructors were never generous with praise, so I think I mostly got in because of my portfolio.” Seunghyun had been surprised when he’d gotten the letter announcing his acceptance. He had already begun writing essays and making plans to apply for a ton of scholarships during the summer. With that burden off his shoulders, he’d convinced his parents that a few months in Italy would prepare him well for university and set off to learn the language of love.

“My portfolio was okay, and my letters weren’t all that great, but I landed an internship with the head of the Design department at Seoul National last summer. I think that’s what got me in.” Jiyong didn’t have the resources or the time to make most of his sketches come to life. His patterns were elaborate and edgy, which set him apart but also curbed his ability to make his imagination into real cloth and stitches.

They all turned to look at the youngest, Seungri, who was the only one left to spill his origin story. Seungri, however, just blinked at them.

“What?” He asked, eyes shifting from one to the other. “Oh, I just trained with an entertainment company for a few years during secondary school. I learned to sing better and dance and produce music. My recommendations came from idols and writers in the company.” He said, shrugging. “I sent in some pretty sweet music for my portfolio but yeah, nothing special.”

They all nodded along, impressed. Training with idols and being a student was rumored to be challenging at the least, though draining was the word most people would use.

“But I don’t think I want to do that anymore, the whole idol business. I’ve always wanted to work with children.” Seungri hadn’t told anybody about his ambitions beyond music, to get a second degree in psychology or something related. He would be funded under the program, but he hadn’t made any decisions.

“Maybe a music therapy program?” Daesung suggested, and Seungri grinned back.

“Yeah, maybe.”

~~~~~

 

They settled into a routine pretty quick, especially within their floor arrangements. Jiyong and Seunghyun were assigned the two rooms on the top floor while the other three set up in the slightly smaller three on the second level of the house. Jiyong apologized to Seunghyun in advance for how many products he was going to clog up their bathroom with and in turn, Seunghyun apologized in advance for his tendency to be messy. Sure enough, within a week Seunghyun was struggling to find a place on the counter to set his shaving cream despite its fairly large size. Jiyong’s hair care products, gels, wide array of moisturizers and other beauty products littered the space almost completely. In turn, Jiyong often found Seunghyun’s shaving cream (and shampoo and toothpaste and hand lotion) on the facet and the counter, bits smudged on the mirror and even the bathroom door. Seunghyun left his clothes in the bathroom as well, and Jiyong generally just dropped them in the older’s doorway. It worked for the two of them, and their unique brands of messiness didn’t seem to bother one another in the slightest.

On the floor below, things in the bathroom were significantly cleaner despite being three instead of two. Daesung especially helped this, always tidying what he could on his way out and offering to clean on the weekends. He said it helped relax him, helped push away stress from classes. Whenever Youngbae cooked for him, he’d choose one of the other roommates and drag them into the kitchen with him. As he and Seungri grew closer, though, the youngest began to offer to help clean up, sparing the other two.  

There weren’t really fights between the roommates. Things happened, like Jiyong stealing everybody’s clothes (on accident from the laundry, he always insisted) but none of them blew up over it. Tension ran high during finals week, especially on the second floor. The trio was usually so happy, cracking jokes non-stop and teasing each other relentlessly, that the shift a peak in stress put on the three of them made each of them a bit oversensitive. Any argument that did start, though, faded with a week or so (and usually a couple bottles of liquor on the weekend).

They often came home to find Jiyong in one of their beds after a tough test or project, but it was difficult for any of the housemates to begrudge him for seeking comfort. And again, they didn’t mind. As much as they respected each other's’ boundaries, Jiyong’s had an overdeveloped affectionate side that they had a silent agreement to indulge. When they got him drunk and giggly, he sprawled out over their laps or hung off their arms, kissing their cheeks and demanding reciprocation. And none of them would deny that they enjoyed the attention just as much as Jiyong seemed to enjoy himself.

With Seunghyun, they all noticed it was a different though. Jiyong didn’t have to be drunk to demand this type of affection from his oldest hyung. When they watched movies, he would lean into Seunghyun’s arms or pillow his head in Seunghyun’s lap. Most often he ended up in Seunghyun’s bed and in Seunghyun’s clothes. And Seunghyun was the most indulgent of Jiyong, without question. The problem was, no matter how blatant Jiyong was about their closeness, everybody _but Seunghyun_ seemed to notice the intentions behind it. The others tried to write it off as the two living in close proximity, having such similar interest in the aesthetics of the human body, but they all knew the truth more clearly than they’d like to admit.

 

So they ignored it.

 

~~~~~

 

The summers were very different than the school year. Seunghyun and Seungri always traveled abroad for the majority of the two month break, learning about their respective crafts in new cultures and refining themselves along the way. Daesung and Youngbae took classes every summer, a mixture of interesting seminars the college offered as electives and courses they needed for their respective majors. Jiyong traveled intermittently, meeting with famous designers when his connections provided him the opportunities. Other times, he applied for grants and positions, commissions and internships-- anything that helped him get his hands on the expensive materials he needed to work his magic.

They always held a party when the final one returned before classes started up again in the fall, just for the five of them. They without fail ended up passing out on the living room couches with music playing in the background, covered in soft blankets and each other.

 

~~~~~

Jiyong graduated first, finishing his doctoral thesis in a year less than Seunghyun or Youngbae, walking the stage while Daesung was still in medical school and Seungri was still in the first half of his doctoral program. In the month leading up to his graduation, Seunghyun swore he could count on his fingers how many times the fashion designer slept in his own bed, usually opting to wrap around Seungri like a koala bear or snuggle up to Seunghyun himself. He had taken on too much, accepting a part time position that turned into his own clothing line. The company had, after seeing just his rough sketches, transferred him to one of their subsidiaries to plan and execute a collection of his own-- on his own. Most nights, one of his housemates forced him into bed at ungodly hours in the morning, then shoved travel mugs of coffee into his hands before early meetings with his thesis advisors and mentors.

Just after he graduated, he finished the line and it was put into production. He was scheduled for Seoul Fashion Week, invited to any number of upscale parties by talented designers. All the doors for his career were open to him, but instead of celebrating his successes, he wanted to bury himself in Seunghyun’s ridiculously soft and fluffy comforter and sleep for weeks.

And that’s more or less what he did. He told everybody he has scheduled promotional work outside of the country and he was looking into breaking into the French market, but instead he slept and drank tea and moved around their house like a ghost. This would be his last summer in this place, which had been his home for longer than anywhere else in his life it seemed-- and not just the house, the people too.

On a particularly bad afternoon, all he seemed to be able to do since waking up was think about how pointless he was and his life was and the whole goddamn world was. He had trudged, mid-afternoon, across the hallway and into Seunghyun’s bed. He knew he should have stopped invading his housemates’ space a long time ago, even though they said it was okay. He knew he should stop relying on Seunghyun so much to cheer him up, but at the moment he couldn’t seem to care.

And like usual, Seunghyun got home and crawled onto his bed, having noticed the younger’s presence under the covers. He slid next to Jiyong under the covers, pulling him close enough for Jiyong’s head to rest on his bicep instead of the pillow.

“Seunghyunnie,” the smaller man sighed, burying his nose in Seunghyun’s t shirt. “I don’t know what to do.”

The statement hung in the air between them for a handful of seconds. “It seems you can do pretty much whatever you want from here on.”

“But I don’t know what I want, that’s the problem.”

“Hmm, well you have time to figure that out. You designed an entire upscale clothing line, you can live off the money from that alone for a couple years at least.”

Jiyong turned to glare at him. “You know I need to do something though. I can’t _just_ live, hyung. I’d go crazy.”

“I know. I don’t know what to tell you other than… take a break.” Seunghyun slid his fingers into Jiyong’s long hair. “Go traveling, eat fancy foods you can’t pronounce in foreign countries whose languages you don’t speak. You haven’t taken a proper break since you began school. Maybe you just need time to let yourself breathe.”

 

~~~~~

 

Jiyong video-called Seunghyun from the balcony of his hotel on his first trip. He’d signed with a small modeling agency that did work for a few large Korean magazines and only hired one or two people at a time-- to foster intimacy, they said. He’d been whisked off to Berlin as soon as they could make arrangements, put up in a little bed and breakfast overlooking the Spree River, twisted and posed into every possible arrangement until their photographer got the right angle or the right light. He was enjoying it, working while being able to trave. It was ideal.

“You know, they say that men used to go to Berlin for the boys. Meet anyone special Jiyongie?” The elder teased, grinning at his laptop screen as Jiyong blew a raspberry at him.

“I’ve been in the city for less than 24 hours, and _I’m working.”_ He insisted, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

“Hey, no reason it has to be all work and no play.”

Jiyong shook his head, sighing. Seunghyun was so confusing, always flirting and being suggestive but never taking it any further. Jiyong knew he had dated both men and women throughout their time at University, but Seunghyun had never been with anyone longer than a month or so. Seunghyun would hold him when he cried, cuddle with him in front of the tv, indulge him when he asked for drunk kisses with pouty lips-- but the elder never made a move to make their friendship anything more than what it was. Jiyong resented that a little but he respected their friendship and Seunghyun’s obvious lack of interest in being anything more. He was probably more hung up on Seunghyun than he would like to admit but he had decided long ago that ignoring his feelings would be the best for both of them. He would move on eventually, just not today and probably not tomorrow.

“So eager to get rid of me hyung? Marry me off to some rich German businessman who takes me to tropical islands and showers me with jewels?”

“Only the best for you, darling.”

“You should get a big map of the world and put it up on your wall so you can follow all the places I go with push pins, like in a movie!” Jiyong said, sprawling against the back of the lounge chair.

All spread out like that, head thrown back and the edge of his shirt pulled up enough to reveal his stomach, Seunghyun though Jiyong looked sinfully delicious. The younger man was a flirt, all over men and women alike at bars all across the city when they went out. Seunghyun received more than his share of attention, but it was never enough for Seunghyun to be sure that Jiyong wanted me. And besides, risking that friendship wasn’t worth it for just some sex. So Seunghyun stuck to flirting and snuggling when he could.

“Only if you write me some heartbreaking Dear John letters about all the men who whisk you away to swanky penthouse suites and make love to you looking out over exotic skylines.”

Jiyong blushed, squirming on the chair. “When are you going to come visit me, Seunghyunnie? Do you have time off?”

The elder shook his head, glancing at the number of chapters of his dissertation due to his advisor with edits. “Our paths will cross soon, I’ll be in Italy for a while and then France. You’ll be around, maybe you can convince your bosses to do some classy museum photoshoots.”

Jiyong blew a raspberry, leaning towards the camera. “Maybe I’ll convince my bosses to use you as a model.”

“Very funny. I’ve got to go do some work but we’ll talk soon.” Seunghyun felt a pang in his chest when Jiyong failed to hide his disappointment behind the guise of a fake pout, but smiled and waved.

“Take care of yourself, okay? Make sure you’re eating in between all that dissertation writing.” Jiyong scolded, knowing Seunghyun had the bad habit of skipping meals.

“I will, you too. Eat some yummy German chocolate for me, drink an extra beer for me too.”

“I will.”

“And don’t you dare have too much fun without me.”

Jiyong smiled, blowing Seunghyun a kiss. “Fun? Without you? Never.”

 

~~~~~

 

Clubs were still fun, even as their group edged towards their thirties. All five had landed back in Seoul with established careers eventually, but none of them had ‘settled down.’ They still partied, got trashed under neon lights with sweet drinks and sweaty bodies-- but only on Saturdays. They had long ago reserved Friday nights for drinks around a restaurant table, fancy foods they could now afford to pay for instead of the cheap dinners they’d eaten together as University students. They ate trays of fancy cheese, crackers with exotic herbs and spices, aged brandy and the best wines money could buy. It wasn’t hard to find the luxury in Seoul. Friday nights were for appreciating how far they had come.

They found themselves falling into the same patterns as before. Youngbae chose their foods off elaborate menus, the closest thing to all of the cooking he’d done for them in the old days. Sometimes he invited them to his home for a dinner party, but only for special occasions.

Daesung, who was now the head of the pediatrics department at a major hospital in Seoul, always told wild stories about his patients, and they could never tell if they were true or not.  

Seungri had gotten a job in the same hospital as Daesung, doing music therapy programs for the psych department and other places across Seoul. He still wrote music and lyrics in his free time, still got invited to Idol parties and big business function which made for lots of stories as well. At least once every Saturday, they danced to his songs.

Seunghyun opened a slew of galleries across the country, funding projects in the States, France, and Italy as well as maintaining homes in each country. He’d sold some of his own art, but mostly dealt in buying, selling, and curating. He chose the drinks, usually wine, every Friday to match with what Youngbae had chosen for their meal.

Jiyong bounced between modeling and designing, still absolutely free to do what he wanted. His combination of beauty and talent made him an asset, even if his future was unpredictable. He’d go a year without touching a piece of raw fabric and then turn on a dime and perfect a whole line in a month. He was sought after, bought and sold throughout the industry, but he maintained total control over his activities. He did what he wanted when he wanted.

Unfortunately, it was the ‘who’ he wanted that caused him problems. Seunghyun had much more free time after he finished his degree, and more still when he established his galleries and started making copious amounts of money. At one point, Jiyong decided to turn it up a notch, inviting himself to whichever piece of property Seunghyun was staying in at any given moment and holing up there for a week of ‘holiday.’ He slept in Seunghyun’s bed, curled around his best friend, feeding him popcorn when the watched movies and sucking salt or sauce off his fingers when he could.

He even made a couple moves when he was drunk and feeling brave, throwing away all the worries about their friendship being ruined and unabashedly coming on to Seunghyun one way or another. Little did he know, Seunghyun equated all that extra affection to the alcohol and brushed it off even easier than normal. What made him pause, what made him really wonder whether Jiyong was interested in being more than friends was the early morning kisses Jiyong didn’t realize he was trailing down Seunghyun’s shoulders and the soft moans Jiyong let out when Seunghyun ran gentle hands through his hair late at night. Still, he refused to act on it; to him, Jiyong was only in for a spontaneous week-long getaway.

One particular Friday, Jiyong was feeling alone and needy, body thrown carelessly across the fancy couch of Seunghyun’s Seoul loft.

“I don’t want to go out tonight. I’m definitely not going out tomorrow. I have a date with that new comforter in your bedroom and we’re going to have the best of times.” Jiyong declared as Seunghyun responded to some emails, glasses perched on his nose as he squinted down at his laptop.

“You can skip tomorrow but you’re coming out tonight. Besides, it’s an Italian restaurant, you love Italian food. And they play amazing music.” Seunghyun paused, glancing up. “I’ve taken you there before, right?”

Jiyong shook his head. “It sounds delicious but I’m so tired. God, procrastination really catches up with you.”

“Procrastination catches up with you, darling, not me. I get my work done early.”

Jiyong huffed, sitting up. “You’re the responsible one. You have to take care of me.”

Seunghyun laughed, closing his laptop and setting it aside as he checked his watch. “One meal, a few glasses of wine, then I’ll tuck you in under that new comforter. How’s that sound?”

Eventually, with a bit more coaxing, Seunghyun got Jiyong convinced and off they were. It took two whole glasses of wine for Jiyong to loosen up and have a little fun, staying tucked against Seunghyun as close as socially acceptable-- maybe a tad closer.

It seemed to be the busy season for all of them, collectively agreeing to forego their Saturday night partying for some much needed R&R. The combination of the carb loaded meal and the wine had Jiyong sleepy and leaning against Seunghyun heavily as they picked up the car from the valet.

“Are you coming back to my place Jiyongie? Or do you want me to take you home?” Seunghyun asked as he pulled into traffic.

“Yours,” Jiyong said immediately, yawning wide. “You promised to take me to bed.”

The elder blanched at the utter lack of teasing in Jiyong’s voice. Jiyong made it very clear when he was just joking.

“I promised to tuck you into bed, I believe.”

Jiyong pouted at that, sticking his bottom lip out. “But that’s so much less fun,”

“You’re drunk, darling.” Seunghyun pointed out quickly, smiling.

“Yeah well you turning me down doesn’t hurt as much when I’m like this.” At least that’s what Jiyong told himself.

The elder rolled his eyes. “Why do you always say that stuff when you’re drunk? You really just want a quick fuck out of me? After all these years?”

Jiyong glared at him, turning to look out the window. “I’m not that drunk, I wouldn’t actually sleep with you. It’d ruin everything between us, right?”

Seunghyun paused. This time was different, this time Jiyong wasn’t teasing or flirting, Jiyong was mad. He was speaking about them, them _together,_ like he’d made a pros and cons list. Like he’d thought it through. So Seunghyun allowed himself to consider, what if?

“Why would it have to ruin everything?”

“Well every single time I try and start something you turn me down! Why would it have to, what does that even mean?”

They pulled up in front of Seunghyun’s building and he parked the car, sighing. “You only ever start shit when you’re drunk, Jiyong. You don’t actually want me like that. You’re an affectionate drunk.”

“Who the fuck says that I don’t?” The buzz of alcohol was pretty much gone by now, which usually meant that he lost his courage to continue the conversation. He didn’t know what it was about tonight, maybe his drowsiness or the stress of work looming over him, but he was angry and so he kept going. “Who the fuck says I haven’t been in love with you since University?”

“Jiyong, I don’t-”

“No, I don’t want to hear this isn’t a good time to have this conversation and I don’t want to hear that I’m drunk, and I don’t want you to tell me that I’m being ridiculous because I’m not.” He said, fisting his hands in his lap. “What I want to know is why you put up with me like you do, then completely write me off in the next second. What I want to know is why you’re incapable of really loving me.”

“We need to go upstairs. Now.” Seunghyun said firmly, turning away from Jiyong, his jaw clenched as he shoved his keys in his pocket and stormed off to the elevator. Jiyong trailed behind him, slowly losing steam. By the time they reached the apartment, he was ready to simply end the conversation.

Seunghyun had different plans, however.

“What do you want from me, Jiyong?” The question startled the younger as he was opening his mouth to apologize and perhaps call a taxi to take him home. “What the fuck do you want from me, because you hold me the same way you hold other men, and you flirt with me like you flirt with them. You kiss me when you’re drunk, come stay with me for romantic weekends that always end in you kissing other guys in shitty clubs. What the hell am I supposed to think?”

Seunghyun was close to yelling now, losing his temper with Jiyong which he never did. Jiyong didn’t like yelling, he knew that, and he realized that he’d fucked up just seconds before the tears came. He cussed, surging forward and pulling a sobbing Jiyong close, holding him tight and apologizing softly.

“I’m sorry,” Jiyong sniffled when he calmed down, face buried in Seunghyun’s chest. “I shouldn’t have blamed you for all of this. I did all of that, flirted with everybody but I always came back to you. I wanted you, I just thought you didn’t want me.”

“I thought the same thing but I always wanted you. I thought since you always came back to me, I was just your safety. Perpetual rebound.” Jiyong shook his head so enthusiastically that Seunghyun had to laugh.

“Can we go to bed?” Jiyong asked, dropping his head on Seunghyun’s shoulder and closing his eyes. “I just want to sleep next to you, we can talk about the rest in the morning.” And, as always, Seunghyun gave him whatever he wanted.

They settled in under the giant comforter, the infamous comforter. Somehow the way Seunghyun held Jiyong was different, because he knew that he wasn’t imagining the love behind the embrace. Somehow, the sleepy kisses Jiyong semi-consciously peppered along his shoulder the next morning brought more butterflies into Seunghyun’s stomach because he knew, sleepy or not, those kisses were meant for him.

After that, the way the went out was different, too-- in a lot of ways. Now, Seunghyun held Jiyong close at Friday night dinners and it was perfect. They found each other on the dance floor on Saturdays, tasting fruity drinks on each others’ lips. Jiyong got to dress both of them up for Seunghyun’s fancy art parties and Seunghyun got to tell his boyfriend that he was the prettiest piece of art in the gallery. Jiyong got some of his work done on time with Seunghyun nagging him to meet his deadlines, and Seunghyun opened a gallery in Berlin because so many of Jiyong’s shoots took place in the Grey City.

Jiyong preferred the city’s other nickname, “poor but sexy.” He said it reminded him of his first shoot, when he was just starting out as a model.

“You told me to marry some rich businessman, remember that?” Jiyong said over a glass of wine on the balcony of their condo.

Seunghyun gestures to himself, grinning. “Isn’t that what you did? Got a rich man to make you his.”

“No, I became a very sought after rich man myself,” Jiyong argued, coming back inside and lowering himself into Seunghyun’s lap. “And then I took and equally sought after rich man and made him mine.”

Jiyong dropped his lips onto Seunghyun’s and the elder wrapped his free arm around Jiyong’s waist.

“We’re too very lucky, sought after rich men, aren’t we?” He said, planting a kiss on Jiyong’s cheek.

“Yeah, we are. I’m not sure that’s very fair.”

Seunghyun smiled, carefully clinking their wine glasses together. “Maybe, but I wouldn’t have it any other way, darling.”

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think!
> 
> Come find me on [Tumblr](http://yijeong-you-little-shit.tumblr.com)


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